In the left corner, you have the challenger, Laurie Blakeman. Blakeman is the Alberta Liberal MLA for the very urban downtown constituency of Edmonton-Centre. Returning for her fourth-term in the legislature since 1997, Blakeman is tough, outspoken, and a strong advocate of the arts, GLBTQ issues, and women in politics. Blakeman is probably the closest to an anti-thesis to the type of rural politics that Kowalski practices that you can find.

Though it won't be a surprise when the 71 members of the Tory caucus jump to vote for the good old boy when Ed Stelmach and Kowalski give them the signal, Blakeman will be challenging Kowalski with the express intent of opening new horizons for women MLAs. Bridget Pastoor (Lethbridge-East) will be joining Blakeman in challenging the Tory majority by running for Deputy Speaker.

The PC's should let them both win, this is the classic example of being careful what you wish for, because you might get it. Blakeman would collapse under the pressure of being speaker...it would almost be worth it.

Kowalski obviously isn't the model of impartiality ("Mr. Premier, I give you your Conservative caucus!", etc.). But the job of Speaker shouldn't be a means to prove some kind of point about a certain group's participation in politics. If the only reason Blakeman can come up with that she's better than Kowalski is that she's a woman, she either has a very dim imagination or a very low opinion of herself. Her candidacy should be based on a belief she has superior skills as an impartial arbiter of disputes, who can look out for the best interests of the assembly in a non-partisan fashion. Framing it as some kind of a gender issue just signals that she's running to make a statement, not running because she thinks she'd do a better job. Which is kind of a piss-poor reason to run for Speaker.

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Who is Dave Cournoyer? I am a writer, blogger, communicator, occasional media pundit, political watcher, & proud life-long Albertan. I studied Political Science at the University of Alberta and have served as Vice-President (External) of the U of A Students' Union, Chair of the Council of Alberta University Students, and communications coordinator for Alberta's official opposition party.